Time transcripts of RybarczykCaptioned
[00:00:00:00] Q: WeÕre now recording, if you could tell us your name and current occupation.
[00:00:05:06] A: Alright, my name is Aubrey Rybarczyk,
[00:00:06:21] and I am a student here majoring in speech and hearing and minoring in psychology.
[00:00:11:14] Q: Ok, and do you have literacy narrative to share with us?
[00:00:14:20] A: I do! I think the first time I was really responsible for my own geographical literacy
[00:00:23:07] was when I took a trip to Europe in my sophomore year of high school.
[00:00:27:02] I spoke a little bit of French, but not a whole lot, so traveling around
[00:00:35:03] Paris, France and Barcelona, Spain was a new experience for me.
[00:00:40:01] Because all we really had was a map, we didnÕt really have a GPS at our disposal.
[00:00:44:19] So, it was pretty much me and a bunch of my friends
[00:00:47:29] who had about two years of French or Spanish under our belts,
[00:00:51:11] just being set loose in a city to find out whatever we wanted to.
[00:00:58:16] I was actually kind of surprised at how I was able to read a map and find my way around,
[00:01:07:02] because at that point I had just gotten my license, so I was not used to driving long distances
[00:01:14:01] or being responsible for getting myself anywhere. So, it was kind of a sink or swim situation.
[00:01:18:16] You wanna go somewhere, you have to figure out how to get there,
[00:01:22:26] I was surprised by how well we all did.
[00:01:25:12] Q: Do you think that part of your success was the stress of being abroad?
[00:01:30:05] A: I definitely think so, because I was definitely less willing to give up easily on things.
[00:01:37:10] Because, I was nervous to just go up to a local
[00:01:41:14] and ask them in really terrible French or Spanish how to get somewhere.
[00:01:45:24] So, I was definitely more willing to...look at the map carefully and really try to find out myself
[00:01:52:17] rather than be reluctant to ask someone else.
[00:01:57:21] Q: What were some of the key things that helped you use a map in that situation?
[00:02:03:17] A: UmmÉ, I think, honestly (laughs), figuring out the direction to hold the map.
[00:02:14:08] That sounds stupid, but I feel like a lot of times, you look around and youÕre like,
[00:02:19:21] "Ok, IÕm going to find out where to go.ā€¯
[00:02:21:16] But you donÕt really take time to orient yourself and feel like that is the right way.
[00:02:28:24] Like reading a map upside-down. It might make it a lot easier if thatÕs the way you want to go.
[00:02:33:16] Q: So, from your experience, what kind of insights did you grab on literacy or do you have?
[00:02:43:17] A: I guess I would say that I feel like our generation
[00:02:51:01] might underestimate their geographical literacy and might think,
[00:02:54:25] ŅOh we have GPS or an iPhone. I donÕt need to figure out how to get somewhere.Ó
[00:03:00:07] I feel like, if youÕre placed in a situation, where you have to figure it our for yourself,
[00:03:04:19] people are more self reliant than they think.
[00:03:08:16] Q: Well, thank you for sharing your story.
[00:03:12:13] A: Thanks!